Carton-feeding apparatus



Nov. 13, 1962 Filed Jan. 17, 1962 J. A. KAY

CARTON-FEEDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 13, 1962 J, A. KAY

CARTON-FEEDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 17, 1962 Nov. 13,1962 J, A. KAY

CARTON-FEEDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 1'7, 1962 Nov. 13,1962 J. A. KAY

CARTON-FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 1'7, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 UnitedStates Patent Ofitice 3,053,712 Patented Nov. 13, 1962 3,063,712CARTON-FEEDING APPARATUS James Arthur Kay, Gainsborough, England,assignor to Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Limited, Gainsborough, England,a British company Filed Jan. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 166,808 Claims priority,application Great Britain lian. 30, 1961 6 Claims. (Cl. 271-36) Thisinvention relates to carton-feeding apparatus of the kind (hereinafterreferred to as the kind described) in which collapsed cartons ofcardboard or similar material are fed forwardly in succession from astack or pack by one or a series of transfer blades each adapted in turnwhile moving in a plane to be inserted between the collapsed walls ofthe leading carton at a separating station and to carry that carton toan intermediate station whereat the blade is withdrawn from the carton,the cartons being squared-up or opened during such movement. Suchapparatus is used, for example, in the feeding of cartons to a cartonfilling and closing apparatus. The invention is concerned with theconstruction and operation of the mechanism for actuating the transferblades.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus of thekind described comprising a blade carrier arranged for movement over aclosed path to carry a transfer blade mounted on the carrier from theseparating station to the intermediate station and vice versa, saidcarrier being mounted in a support for pivotal movement relatively tosaid support about an axis normal to said closed path, a pinion freelymounted in said carrier for rotation about an axis normal to that ofpivotal movement of the carrier in the support, a stationary toothedrack member arranged in mesh with said pinion, and means for translatingsaid support around said closed path.

By these means, the transfer blade moves over the closed path at alltimes in planes parallel to itself so that, with the stack or pack soarranged that the leading carton lies in the same plane at theseparating station as that taken up by the blades at that station, theblade is smoothly inserted into the leading carton which is thentransported by the blade to the intermediate station.

Conveniently, a plurality of supports, in each of which is mounted acarrier as described above, are secured at spaced intervals along anendless chain arranged adjacent the stationary rack member, the chainbeing suitably driven to carry the supports successively round theclosed path. With such construction, a blade enters the leading cartonas its support travels with a straight run of the chain whilst the bladeis withdrawn from the preceding carton at the intermediate station asits support travels in the opposite direction with the opposite run ofthe chain.

For cartons of substantial width, pairs of spaced blades may be used,each blade of a pair being mounted on a carrier as before, and the pairsof carriers being connected together and pivotally mounted in opposedpairs of supports secured at spaced intervals along a pair of laterallyspaced chains each disposed adjacent a stationary rack member forengagement with the pairs of pinions.

The cartons, thus opened, may be passed from the intermediate station toa score-breaking and transfer device serving to pass the opened cartonsto a carton filling and closing apparatus.

By way of example, a carton feeding apparatus according to the inventionwill now be described in greater detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional elevationof the apparatus,

FIGURE 2 is a plan thereof,

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the apparatus as seen in the direction of thearrow in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a detail of FIGURE 1 drawn to a larger scale,

FIGURE 5 is a section on the line 55 in FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is an isometric view of part of the apparatus, and

FIGURES 7, 8 and 9 are diagrams illustrating part of the operation ofthe apparatus.

Collapsed cartons 11 in the form of a pack are supported between sideguides 12 on a pair of endless chains 13, the latter being driven so asfrictionally to engage the base of the pack and urge the cartons towardsa separating station, a movable end wall 14 also being supported on andurged forwardly by the chains 13 to provide support for the rear of thepack. The leading carton 11 is urged into engagement with abutmentrollers 16 and yieldable stops 17, the rollers 16 being arranged toengage an end wall panel 18 of the carton.

Arranged below the separating station is a pair of laterally spacedendless chains 19 each supported between inner and outer chain guides 21and 22, respectively, and driven continuously by a pair of sprockets 23through gearing 24 from a driving shaft 26, the sprockets each passingthrough a slot 27 in the respective outer chain guide 22 to engage therespective chain 19. Secured at spaced intervals along the chains 19 byscrews 28 are opposed pairs of blade supports 29 in each of which ablade carrier 31 is mounted for pivotal movement relatively to thesupport 29 about an axis normal to the path of movement of the chains19, each pair of opposed carriers 31 being connected laterally by ablade-carrying bar 32 to which is secured a pair of laterally spacedblades 33.

Rotatably mounted on a shaft 34 secured in each carrier 31 is a pinion36, the axis of rotation of the pinion being normal to that of pivotalmovement of the carriers 31 in the supports 29, and there is secured tothe inner chain guide 21 a stationary toothed rack member 37 arranged incontinuous mesh with the various pinions 36. With such construction theblades 33 are caused to remain parallel to each other as the chains 19are driven by the sprockets 23 around the tracks formed by the chainguides 21 and 22.

Arranged adjacent one side of the pack of cartons 11 is aflap-deflecting member 38 arranged to pass behind the forward lower flap3? of each carton 11 in turn to facilitate the entry of the blades 33,the adjacent side flap 40 being cut away at 41 to facilitate the action.The deflecting member 38 is rotatably mounted in a bearing member 45 andarranged to be oscillated in timed relationship with the movement of theblades 33 by a lever 4-2, connected by a link 43 to a cam-operated lever(not shown). The bearing member 45 is internally threaded for engagementwith a thread 44 formed on the bearing surface of the deflecting member38. Upon actuation of the lever 42, therefore, the deflecting member isat once caused to rotate and to move axially, such movement causing thetip 46 of the deflecting member simultaneously to pass inside the flap39 and to pivot so as to cause the flap 39 to be deflected upwardly.

The blades 33 are spaced laterally a distance correspondingsubstantially with the width of the forward wall portion 47 of thecarton 11 and are so arranged as to lie (when inserted between the wallsof the carton) with their outer edges adjacent the score lines 48constituting the side edges of the wall portion 47.

The yieldable stops 17 and the abutment rollers 16 are so positionedthat the leading carton 11 in the pack lies in substantially the planeof movement of the blades 33 while on the upward straight run of thechains 19. In operatiomtherefore, as the lower flap 39 is deflectedoutwardly (see FIGURE 6) the upwardly moving blade 33 passes behind thefront wall 47 of the leading carton, and as the chains 19 pass aroundthe upper curved portions of the tracks the blades 33 move furtherupwardly and simultaneously horizontally to move the carton 11 along asupport 49 to an intermediate position, the side flap 18 engaging theabutment rollers 16 during such movement to cause the carton to open uptowards its rectangular form, continued movement of the chains 19 aroundthe upper curved portions of the tracks causing the blades to completethe horizontal movement of the carton and simultaneously commence theirwithdrawal movement. The carton is thus left standing at theintermediate position supported only by the support 49 and the rear sideguide 12. As the next succeeding blade 33 carries out the samemovements, the next succeeding carton is moved to the intermediateposition, and during such movement it causes the preceding carton 11 torecollapse in the opposite direction against the surface of a re-foldingdrum 51, the panel 18 now lying against the inside wall of the wallportion 47. Such collapsing action causes the leading carton to passinto the nip between the drum 51 and a roller 52 carried by an arm 53and resiliently urged into engagement with the surface of the drum (seeFIGURES 7, 8 and 9). The roller 52 is provided with a gear 54 arrangedin mesh with a driving gear 56 formed on a disc 57 extending from thehub (not shown) of the drum 51, further gearing (not shown) beingprovided for driving the disc 57. The drum and roller are thus bothdriven and serve to urge the re-collapsed carton into a narrow channelformed between the surface of the drum 51 and an outer guide 58. Forkedpushers 59 mounted for radial movement within the drum 51 and forrotational movement therewith are operated by stationary cams (notshown) to pass through suitable apertures in the drum surface intoengagement with the rear edge of each carton in turn as it leaves thenip of the roller 52 and the drum 51 to forward the carton to the feedconveyor of a carton filling and closing apparatus.

I claim: 7

1. Carton-feeding apparatus of the kind in which collapsed cartons ofcardboard or similar material are fed forwardly in succession from astack or pack by one or a series of transfer blades each adapted in turnwhile moving in a plane to be inserted between the collapsed walls ofthe leading carton at a separating station and to carry that carton toan intermediate station whereat the blade is withdrawn from the carton,said apparatus comprising a blade carrier arranged for movement over aclosed path to carry a transfer blade mounted on the carrier from theseparating station to the intermediate station and vice versa, saidcarrier being mounted in a support for pivotal movement relatively tosaid support about an axis normal to said closed path, a pinion freelymounted in said carrier for rotation about an axis normal to that ofpivotal movement of the carrier in' the support, a stationary toothedrack member arranged in mesh with said pinion, and means for translatingsaid support around said closed 7 path.

2. Carton-feeding apparatus of the kind in which collapsed cartons ofcardboard similar material are fed forwardly in succession from a stackor pack by one or a series of transfer blades each adapted in turn whilemoving, in a plane to be inserted between the collapsed walls of theleading carton at a separating station and to carry that carton to anintermediate station whereat the blade is withdrawn from the carton,said apparatus comprising an endless chain, a plurality of supportssecured at spaced intervals along the chain, a blade carrier mounted ineach of said supports for pivotal movement relatively to said supportabout an axis normal to the path of movement of said chain, a pinionfreely mounted in each of said carriers for rotation about an axisnormal to that of pivotal movement of the carriers in the supports, astationary toothed rack member arranged in mesh with said pinions, andmeans for driving the endless chain so as to translate said supportssuccessively about a closed path to carry transfer blades mounted one oneach carrier successively from the separating station to theintermediate station and vice versa.

3. Carton-feeding apparatus of the kind in which collapsed cartons ofcardboard or similar material are fed forwardly in succession from astack or pack by one or a series of transfer blades each adapted in turnWhile moving in a plane to be inserted between the collapsed walls ofthe leading carton at a separating station and to carry that carton toan intermediate station whereat the blade is withdrawn from the carton,said apparatus comprising a pair of laterally spaced endless chains, aplurality of 0pposed pairs of supports secured at spaced intervals alongsaid pair of chains, a blade carrier mounted in each of said supportsfor pivotal movement relatively to said support about an axis normal tothe path of movement of said chains, the blade carriers of each pair ofsupports being connected together, a pinion freely mounted in each ofsaid carriers for rotation about an axis normal to that of pivotalmovement of the carriers in the supports, a pair of stationary toothedrack members arranged one adjacent each of said chains and in mesh withthe pinions carried by the supports on that chain, and means for drivingthe chains simultaneously so as to translate the pairs of supportssuccessively about a closed path to carry transfer blades mounted onsaid carriers successively from the separating station to theintermediate station and vice versa.

4. Mechanism for translating a blade-like object over a closed pathwhile moving in parallel planes, comprising a carrier support arrangedfor movement over the closed path, a blade carrier mounted in thesupport for pivotal movement relatively to said support about an axisnormal to said closed path, a pinion freely mounted in said carrier forrotation about an axis normal to that of pivotal movement of the carrierin the support, a stationary toothed rack member arranged in mesh withsaid pinion, and means for translating said support around said closedpath.

5. Mechanism for translating a blade-like object over a closed pathwhile movingin parallel planes, comprising an endless chain, a pluralityof supports secured at spaced intervals along the chain, a blade carriermounted in each of said supports for pivotal movement relatively to saidsupport about an axis normal to the path of movement of said chain, apinion freely mounted in each of said carriers for rotation about anaxis normal to that of pivotal movement of the carriers in the supports,a stationary toothed rack member arranged in mesh with said pinions, andmeans for driving the endless chain so as to translate said supportssuccessively about the closed path.

6. Mechanism for translating a blade-like object over a closed pathwhile moving in parallel planes, comprising a pair of laterally spacedendless chains, a plurality of opposed pairs of supports secured atspaced intervals along said pair of chains, a blade carrier mounted ineach of said supports for pivotal movement relatively to said supportabout an axis normal to the path of movement of said chains, the bladecarriers of each pair of supports being connected together, a pinionfreely mounted in each of said carriers for rotation about an axisnormal to that of pivotal movement of the carriers in the supports, apair of stationary toothed rack members arranged one adjacent each ofsaid chains and in mesh with the pinions carried by the supports on thatchain, and means for driving the chains simultaneously so as totranslate the pairs of supports successively about the closed path.

No references cited.

